Melrose Tarts Recipes

LEMON MERINGUE TARTS

Steps:

• For the crust: Place 12 identical 3 1/4-inch brioche a tete molds in the freezer.
• Combine flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to 2 to 4 times, then add butter and pulse 8 to 10 times, until texture looks mealy and no large lumps of butter remain. Pour on water and pulse 5 times. (At this point, the mixture should hold together when squeezed.) Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and draw the plastic up around it, squeezing and pressing the dough into a ball. Flatten into a 1-inch-thick disk and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap and place on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper. Dust the top of the disk with a small amount of flour and top with a second sheet of parchment. Roll dough out into a round 1/8-inch thick. Use a 5-inch biscuit cutter and cut 6 circles out of the dough. Re-roll once if necessary.
• Remove the brioche molds from the freezer. Line 6 of the molds with the dough, being careful to press the dough into all the nooks and crannies. Gently run the rolling pin over the tops of the molds to trim the edges. Nestle each of the empty brioche molds inside the molds with the dough. Place the sandwiched molds in the freezer refrigerator for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F and position a rack in the center of the oven with a second just beneath it.
• Remove the sandwiched molds from the freezer. Place them, inverted, directly on the center rack with a sheet pan on the rack below to catch any butter that might render out. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the molds from the oven. Flip right-side up and remove the top molds.
• Turn the oven up to 400 degrees F, return the tart shells to the oven and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes more. Remove the tart shells from the oven and let cool completely on a baking rack before removing the shells from the molds.
• For the lemon filling: Whisk egg yolks until light in color in a medium nonreactive bowl and set aside.
• Whisk cornstarch, sugar, water and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and temper the yolks by slowly adding the hot starch mixture to them in a steady stream, whisking constantly, until a third of the starch mixture has been worked into the eggs, then return that mixture to the saucepan. Whisk in the butter and continue heating until just boiling.
• Stir in the lemon juice and zest, reduce heat to medium-low and whisk constantly until mixture returns to a boil. Cook for 1 full minute more, then transfer to a medium bowl over an ice bath. Cool, stirring occasionally, until the curd is just slightly warmer than room temperature. (Do not chill or cool completely, or the curd will become difficult to spread.) Pour or use a pastry or zip top bag with the corner cut off to pipe the mostly cooled curd into the tart shells until flush with the tops of the shells. Cool filled tarts completely on a baking rack while you make the meringue topping.
• For the meringue: Whisk together the egg whites until foamy, then add the sugar, cream of tartar and salt in the heat-proof bowl of a stand mixer. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and whisk constantly until the mixture reaches 165 degrees F. Then return the bowl to the base of the stand mixer and whip the egg whites on medium-high speed until medium-stiff peaks form. Increase the speed to high and whip until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes total. Transfer the meringue to a pastry bag fitted with a star tip.
• Pipe the meringue to cover the top of the cooled tarts. Brown the meringue under a preheated low broiler, about 1 minute, or with a kitchen torch.

THE BEST LEMON TART EVER

Steps:

• Combine butter, 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla extract, and salt in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer; mix ingredients thoroughly with a paddle attachment. Mix flour into butter mixture to make a smooth dough. Press dough into a 9-inch tart pan; refrigerate crust for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake crust until light golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Whisk sugar, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, and 1/2 cup flour in a bowl until smooth. Pour lemon filling into crust. Cover edges of crust with strips of aluminum foil to prevent burning.
• Bake tart until filling is set, about 20 minutes. Cool completely and dust with confectioners' sugar.

MAIDS OF HONOR TARTS I

Steps:

• Move oven rack to bottom position and preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 12 2-inch tart tins.
• Roll out pastry and cut 12 3-inch circles. Fit one pastry circle into each tart tin. Spread one teaspoon of raspberry jam into the bottom of each tart shell.
• In a medium mixing bowl, cream together softened butter or margarine and white sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in egg. Add flour, baking powder, and almond extract and mix until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Pour 1 tablespoon of batter into each tart shell.
• Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, until risen and firm. Dust tarts with confectioners' sugar.

MELROSE TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350° F.
• Roll out the pastry, and line small pie tins or large muffin tins.
• Trim the edges and reserve the extra pastry.
• Sprinkle the breadcrumbs evenly over the pastry base.
• Warm the honey and marmalade very gently in a saucepan over a very low heat.
• Stir in the lemon juice and ginger.
• Pour the mixture over the breadcrumbs.
• Roll and cut the leftover pastry into small rounds to cover the individual tarts.
• With a sharp knife, make a small slit or two in the top of each one.
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown.
• Serve hot or cold with whipped heavy cream.

S'MORES TART

Steps:

• In a small pan over medium heat, warm the milk until it just begins to bubble around the edges. Turn off the heat and add 1 cup chocolate chips. Let sit for a few minutes to melt the chocolate, and then whisk to combine. Pour into the pie crust and put into the freezer until set, about 20 minutes.
• Preheat the broiler to high.
• In a large, clean glass or metal bowl, add the egg whites. Using an electric hand mixer, whisk the egg whites to get them frothy. With the mixer running, slowly beat in the sugar. Continue until they begin to form stiff peaks, 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and marshmallow cream. Spoon the mixture over the chocolate, making sure to cover all the way to the edges of the crust. Put on the middle rack of the oven and broil until the top is lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Garnish with the remaining chocolate chips. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

LIME-MERINGUE TARTS

Steps:

• Whisk together egg yolks and eggs. Combine with sugar and lime juice in small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, 8 to 10 minutes, or until mixture is thick enough to coat back of spoon.
• Stir to cool slightly. Strain into small bowl; add butter, a piece at a time, stirring until smooth. Stir in zest; let cool completely. Cover with plastic; refrigerate until needed.
• Heat oven to 200 degrees. Trace three 6-inch circles on parchment; place, penciled side down, on 12-inch-by-18-inch baking sheet.
• Fill clean pastry bag fitted with an Ateco #12 plain tip with meringue, reserving about 1 1/2 cups; pipe out meringue, starting in center of each circle, spiraling out to circleâ??s edge. Create 1-inch-tall wall of meringue peaks by piping along outside of circle using same tip to create smooth peaks, or change tips for a more decorative edge. If making bite-size tarts, follow above spiraling process on sixteen 2-inch circles, creating 3/4-inch wall.
• Place the baking sheets in the oven, and bake about 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 175 degrees, and bake 40 to 60 minutes more until meringue is dry and crisp but still white. Let stand to cool completely on baking sheets. The shells can be packed in airtight containers and stored for several weeks in dry weather.
• Heat oven to 475 degrees. Fill cool meringue tarts with chilled lime curd. Rewhip remaining meringue on high speed until stiff, about 5 minutes. Fill pastry bag fitted with an Ateco #5 star tip; pipe a ring of decorative peaks on top of lime curd. Bake until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

DOLESTER MILES'S LEMON MERINGUE TART

Steps:

• In the bowl of a food processor, place flour, confectioners' sugar and salt, and quickly pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs, then add egg yolks and pulse until the dough comes together. Form the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 1/8 inch, then transfer it into a 9 1/2-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan, then trim it by rolling your rolling pin over the top of the tart pan edge. Pierce crust all over with a fork and freeze for 30 minutes. Remove from freezer, place tart pan on a baking sheet, and bake for about 20 minutes until golden. Remove tart from baking sheet and let pan cool slightly on a rack.
• Meanwhile, prepare the filling: Separate the eggs, saving 3 of the whites to use in the meringue. In a small saucepan, stir together 1/2 cup/101 grams sugar, the lemon zest and juice and the egg yolks. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until quite warm. Stir in butter and continue to cook, whisking to prevent burning, for about 7 to 10 minutes or until the mixture becomes thick. Remove from heat and stir in the white chocolate until it melts into the mixture.
• Pour lemon mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium bowl and use a spatula to press until just the solids remain. Discard the solids. Spoon mixture into the prepared tart shell and chill for 4 hours.
• Make the meringue: Set up a double boiler and bring the water in the bottom pan to a boil over medium-high heat. Combine the 3 egg whites with 3/4 cup/151 grams sugar in the top of the double boiler and whisk constantly until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is hot.
• Pour the meringue mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip at medium-high speed for about 2 minutes then increase speed to high and whip for about 4 to 6 minutes more or until the mixture is stiff. Spoon meringue over tart and spread with an offset spatula.
• Using a kitchen torch, brown the meringue lightly, holding the torch about 2 inches away from the tart. Alternatively, place tart under a preheated broiler with the oven rack placed 8 inches from the heat source. Broil 30 to 45 seconds, watching carefully so the meringue turns golden brown and does not burn. Remove tart ring and serve immediately.